Money Management Simplified (Part 2)

In the previous article, I explained how to simplify your finances by just completing a few simple exercises on a piece of paper and I explained the three scenarios that you are probably in right now. So let’s continue our discussion right now. If you are currently in Scenario 1, you would want to move up to scenario 2 and scenario 3 immediately right? And if you are in scenario 2, your end goal is to get to scenario 3 as soon as possible.

Well, let’s get started then. If you are in Scenario 1 (or 2), take a look at the picture below:

So here’s what you do about it. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you to just live below your means as this is what 99% of people try to do and still be in this predicament. The real solution is that you must work on the two problems together, not just lower your expenses, but work on increasing your take home. In this article (Part 2) I’m going to teach you how to first fix your spending habits, then in the next article (Part 3) We will tackle how to you start increasing your income.

So let’s talk about expenses first.

As the picture shows, the first thing you need to know is that there are three kinds of expenses.

1. The Necessary – These are the only necessary expenses any one needs. These are:

Food

Clothing

Shelter

Transportation

Education (if you have kids)

Health Insurance (Phil health should be enough for now)

Regarding insurance, if you must prioritize between life, non-life, or health, then always get health insurance first. At this day and age when health costs are ridiculously expensive, not having this can bankrupt anyone if he/she gets hospitalized for a prolonged period. (If you have Phil health, that is enough for now)

2. The Bad – These are expenses that have no value after you have spent your money, I also call them useless expenses. These are:

Inexperienced Investing (lack of experience in knowing the difference between a scam and a true investment)

Debt / loans used to pay for any of the above expenses

3. The Good – These are expenses that produce “assets”. Assets are things or experiences that will add to income and your money right now. These are:

Learning Expenses (Self-Help / How-To Books, Great Seminars, etc.)

Buying Items that can be rented out

Buying Items that can be used, re-sold at same or higher values

Savings / Time Deposits with built in life insurance policies

Experienced Investing

Life/Pension Insurance

Charity / charitable causes (if you give some to certain charities who really need it, it will come back to you a hundred fold through other means)

Notice that I included Savings, Investing, and Insurance as “expenses” this is because with my method, everything that goes out of your “cup” I treat as an expense. But, in this case, it is a good kind of expense.

Now the next thing you have to do is to make some sacrifices and adjust your spending habits. Reduce the Bad Expenses, Keep the Necessary Expenses, then Increase the Good Expenses

Yes, I know, you are thinking: “Easier said than done” Sure it is, I never said it was going to be easy, but, if you have the right mindset, I’m going to make it fun for you. Ready? This key to be able to do what I call:

Expense Management through “Substitution”

Here’s how it works, on another piece of paper, create a table like below, and write the heading for each column, “Bad”, “Necessary”, and “Good”. Then list down in the bad column all the expenses you have right now that have no value after you spend on them. (Yes, just the Bad Expenses, leave the other 2 columns blank)

Ex.

Bad

Necessary

Good

Eating Out

Vacation in a province

Investing in a “get-rich-quick” scam

Good, now cross out at least one (or as many ) of them and put in a “substitute” expense in either the “Necessary” or “Good” Column, like this:

Bad

Necessary

Good

Eating Out

Go to market and cook my own food

Vacation in a province

Buy a low cost computer that you can use in business and even rent out

Investing in a get-rich-quick scam

Buy a book on how to invest

For me (and my wife), this exercise has already become so natural with us that we automatically filter in our minds any expense that comes our way, we know if it’s a bad, necessary or good expense. But more importantly, we follow the very simple rule that I just explained –We do not indulge in Bad expenses, but we do not hesitate to spend on good ones. If we have a substitute expense for it either in the Necessary or Good expense column, we will always substitute it. Make this a habit and you will see that over time, this will be how your expenses will now look like:

Good luck and I hope to hear from you soon!

Now here are your 2 assignments:

1. Scroll down to the bottom of the article, leave a comment and participate!

This is what we should all learn to practice by heart if we want to uplift our lives and and help uplift the lives of others as well. This is actually plain common sense, yun nga lang in the area of money management ika nga ni Robert Kiyosaki, “Common sense is uncommon”. This kind of money management is very much doable, but it requires some strong sense of discipline.

Thanks for commenting saggi. I’m glad you agree that it is doable and yes like all things in this life that is worth doing, we do need to sacrifice and build discipline. I hope that this article helps you and a lot more people.

True enough. Wise people think of ways to simplify and maximize existing resources. Thank you once again for sharing this. I call this social responsibility – voluntarily extending help to others by sharing innovative techniques. Again, more power!

Thanks Mel. Helping people in my view is a privelage, but more importantly, the articles and seminars that I give are truly meant to create results. And my hope is that it creates a better result for you and your friends. Keep reading, keep sharing, keep learning

right you are about good and bad expenses. the problem of most people is that they want something and want to have it immediately… most would take out loans just to buy what they want. the sad part is that when you ask them why couldn’t they just save for it, atleast the most part of the cost, they would say : they can’t do it, that they keep on spending it for some other things… they complain that life is hard and that their salary is not enough and most of it goes to paying up debts. i just have to say that :”WALA SILANG BAIT SA SARILI”

they can’t control themselves, they couldn’t do what Kiyosaki say “delaying self gratification”… they take out loans, lie as to their capacity to pay, and tell themselves “MAY AWA ANG DIYOS”…

Very good insight Benjoe! Managing money is not all fun, there must definitely be sacrifices. The process is long, hard and brutal. But, if there are people willing to change, I hope they will listen to your comment.

At this time your posted article helped me in some way! Now I can monitor all expenses that me and my husband make and consider the fact of increasing our so called take home pay even we earn very little. Thanks!

Hi Sir Mark,
I’m glad that there are generous people like you sharing precious knowledge which probably others would keep for themselves. I need this and I’m so happy I read your article. Thanks and I’m looking forward in seeing you again. more power to you and your family. God Bless!

Sir Mark,
I happened to read your column today in Manila Bulletin and tried to visit your blog. I’m really glad that there is someone like you who is trying to reach every Filipino to become financially independent and make the most out of our lives.
Thank you so much.

its very basic… right?! 🙂 many of filipino’s new it already but the problem is mind setting… You know what sir… I will share this knowledge to my bro. and sisters and relatives… Iam praying that God will give you more strength and more wisdom and good health as well… Thank you sir! thank you!

This is a good article. I used to have 2 columns only when doing budgeting: money in, and money out (ie, expenses). I had always thought expense is just money going out. Now I know, there is such a thing as good expense. This article also interesting in that budgeting is likened to dieting- I don’t have to deprive myself of things I want, but I just have to find a more sensible expense to substitue for the bad expense. I am applying this now in my monthly budgeting. More power!

i liked the part where you advised not to live just below your means but analyze your expenses and doing substitution instead of Good expenses…. useful first step in meeting one’s financial goals….thanks !

Excellent. The fastest way to do that is to share this on Facebook. At the end of each article is a Facebook share button. Go ahead and click on that. Thanks! Do continue reading Money Management Simplified Part 3. Talk soon!

In summary, it means to not just lump up all expenses as equal. There are good expenses, necessary expenses and bad expenses. Reduce the bad, keep the necessary and increase the good. It is about first understanding and forming a healthier habit on how you spend. If you just reduce all your expenses indiscriminately, it doesn’t work as that is what 99% of people try to do to become richer. And 99% of them don’t make it.

i will try this out, do you have any suggestion for bad exp. so i can include it in there. Mark buying something for my wife in special occassion like birhtday is in bad expense column? . this is where i used my credit card. i usually dont buy her often unless there is occasion and most of the time its a little bit costly thats why i used my credit card for her.
tnx

Buying something you don’t have cash for and cannot rent out or re-sell is considered a bad expense. However, since it is for your wife, then it is “necessary” ha ha ha. Kidding aside, just remember a bad expense is something that doesn’t bring back the money (rented, re-sold, make you more knowledgeable about money, etc.) some examples were already given in the article. Time to apply it now.

Hi ! Mark and Jhoanna, I liked reading again your articles (August 10, 2011 was the first time I read this). I liked also that you included tithing or making charitable donations as one of the good expenses…. Thus, having more cashflow or passive income will benefit not only me and my family but also others as well. God Bless ! 🙂

Hi Sir Mark! I did the exercise. I figured I have lots of bad and necessary expenses. I also found out that i have some good expenses that I should have put to work for me. This exercise made me aware of where most of my money go. From now on I’ll always do this simple exercise so that in time this (simple money management) will also become natural with me. Thank you for sharing! God Bless.

Nice article, the hard part is determining which one is bad and which one is a necessary expense. Sometimes we are tempted to justify that the bad expense is a necessary expense, which ends to an overspending. I am sometimes guilty of this. When we were able to pay off most of our cards, we ate in an eat-all-you-can resto. My justification was having to stay frugal for three years just to pay off cards, we deserve and we need to reward ourselves with eating out.

Its perfectly okay to give yourself a reward from time to time, just don’t make it a habit. You ate at a buffet, not a problem, but if you do it every week, then that is no longer a reward but punishment on your finances (and your bellies;-)).

Also, Like all our articles, we suggest you read this one in particular again and again as sometimes, you miss out on some things that can give you “aha” moments. Especially the part where I explain and define what bad, necessary, and good expenses are. Talk soon!

Hi,
I always make it a practice on buying things, but sometimes I indulge in expensive food. Is it bad? I can’t help to eat in expensive restaurant sometimes when I crave for food. The chunk of my expenses coming from there and my health.

If at the end of the day, you are still running after money after spending on these expenses, and you do not produce any money making assets, and you have not created any “wealth” then the answer is “yes” those are “bad” expenses. The quality of your life does not have to suffer if you substitute some of your “excessive” food expenses with something equally healthy but less expensive. Hope this clarifies

hi mark,
nice article,you’ve teach as a good example of how to manage our expenses. i may now say you’re the philippines version of robert kiyosaki.it’s true it’s so easy to say than to make it done.i am thanking your good advice of choosing health insurance for sometimes when money needed a life insurance is hard to get.keep it up!!! i will keep following your blog!God bless!!!

I enjoyed this article because it gives some practical tips on how to handle your money and I believe this is one of the most practical ways to do it. Through managing expenses and substituting others for those that can be substituted. Another great article. Thanks Sir Mark!

Hi Mr. Mark, thanks for helping us to gain better insights on our spending habits. I must share this to my family. I am also planning to buy a laptop. Is this a bad expense? How can it generate a passive income?

Hi Paul, please read the definition of good expense again. Can it bring money in? If you buy a laptop and just use it for games then its a bad expense, if you buy a laptop and can get a job as a transcriptionist using it, then it brings money in and it is a good expense.

Mark, It is really what your saying, you have to make sacrifices now for the future and at the same time your changing your bad habits into good ones, very very helpful article. thanks again for showing me simple ways to change my mindset.

we first must analyse the good versus bad expense..though it is hard to the extent we justify our bad expenses, we should delete them and be more disciplined with our expenses..don’t dwell on excuses. Kung gusto may paraan…kung ayaw, parating may dahilan (excuses, excuses)… i know, as a had helped my sibling in analysing their expenses and coming out with doable solutions ( such as taking the jeep instead of FX or taxi), but they always have their reasons and resistance to doable solutions

This article made me think of my expenses and allowed me to classify them properly. I was thrilled at the idea of a “good expense.” So now, i will be more conscious whether or not an expense is good, necessary or bad. Besides my regular job, i also teach part time philosophy classes at a local college. Since more than half of my students are business admin. students, I decided to share your idea about a simplified money management and told them to visit your blog too. I guess, that’s just one of the ways i could pay forward your generosity to your readers! Thanks and God bless!

with this article, i will try to increase my extra income. i like that expense that could be rented out or resell. actually, i’m doing this thing but can’t manage. i will try this activity for a habit.

hi mr mark , i became interested with your articles since october 2o11, and during lunch or dinner with family members, i shared what i read. This will help them a lot, especially now that they are starting their college life. i will wait for the coming articles. thank you.

Hi great article, but in my own view, there are some pleasure expenses that are not bad especially expenses that will create or harness bonding with your family, a modest family vacation is one of them. I for myself see to it that once or twice a year, my family get to spend vacation together, I also consider that as a reward for ourselves. But what we do is pinaiipunan namin ang get discounted fares.

Bad and good expenses are fairly subjective. If your vacations lead to a better life, then by all means continue to do so, in the end, having money is really all about having a better life for you and your family isn’t it?

yes, your article is very true. Most people spend today and ” bahala na” bukas. wrong attitude and lack of responsilbility. Only if you can have tagalog version, so that we can display your articles in our bulletin board for the employeesd to read. thank you.

Hi Mark! I am realizing a lot already.. I took a look at my expense diary..my goodness spent so much on food and well of course my credit cards.. hehehe. Thanks for this step. This is really an opener. I am so excited to rate all my stuffs and of course my skills. Yues, I realized I can post all my collected pictures of viands that I cooked and goodies that I baked..thanks super. God bless you and Jhoanna.

Hi Mark, the insight is very very remarkable because it really strikes my way of spending. I know that it should be done both by both couple to succeed. I would like to ask if there’s an e-book that I could download your articles? Particularly in “Money Management Simplified” and “Making Money run After you”.

Make sense, but how about expenses like buying a TV? a car? You can sell them later, but surely at a lower price that the acquired one. Without TV, there will be a tendency to go out during holidays and spend unnecessarily.

morning sir, i’m taking it seriously. first, i was hesitate to invest on agribusiness what i wanted to be becos of past experienced. but right now, i’ve got “balls” again to invest maximizing my available resources. pls pray for me…

Good day sir Mark,
DISCIPLINE! This is the most important factor if we want to control our bad expenses and replace them to become good expenses. Glad to note that savings /time deps are good expenses, since I have been trying hard to set aside an amount every month for the past year or so. now to lessen the eating out part.:)

This is a really great advice… I started to apply the 10-20-70 percent lifestyle approach, which 10% percent belongs to God, 20% for my savings and investment and 70% for living expense. It is not really easy but I’m still ok, and I believe in what I am doing. This article confirms it.

Simple but attainable . Great exercises! Love it and it excites me! It’s so cool doing it. I was able to identify all my expenses. Necessary, Bad and Good.Here’s what I am going to do: Reduce the Bad expenses, Keep the Necessary expenses and Increase the Good expenses. 🙂

I’m glad my parents trained me on this while I’m still young. They refuse to buy me another barbie, but would buy me educational book without hesitation. Then when purchasing, they often ask, ” do you need it?”

Hi Mark, it requires a change in mindset to modify spending habits. I do appreciate your explanation on expense management. However, bad expenses are resorted to like eating out or going on a vacation as they are seen as excellent forms of relaxation. I think these type of activities may be classified as necessary if they are programmed. What do you think?

Relaxing through eating out or other “bad expenses” are not necessarily bad, in fact they can re-energize you and make you feel better. However if you cannot afford to do it frequently, then it is about time you learned how to substitute it with something else that helps you become wealthier. All work and no play is not good, but playing when you should be working is worse.

In our present situation, there’s a lot of things that has been offered to us to improve our everyday life. Sometimes we perceived it as important, well in fact its not. Sometimes we tell it to ourselves we need it, but in reality its not. Every expenses should be weigh first before we execute the buying. If you have a second thought on something that you intend to buy, then you don’t need it. But if you don’t have a second thought, try to stroll first and find a product that offer a lower price but same quality. Every one want’s to be in, so they buy on something that they already have. Right now, we have to be more clever in our expenses.

Great article. I think I can minimize my expenses more by using the tables. I also realize that I should not take out loans without actually needing it. I should not get a loan just because it is available for me to take and then putting it in the bank for the sake of having extra money.

Good evening Sir Mark,
I agree with you, per experience and before I do some spending – I always ask myself, my wife, and my 2 children two things, to wit:
1. Is it nice to have only ?
2. Do we need it ?
When finances were a just a little bit getting better, I was able to buy a Life Insurance in addition to our ( with my wife in the same Company ) Company’s insurance provision per CBA. I did not buy a health insurance since the Company provides the 100% medical care for employees only. My savings was via subscription to the Company’s Stock Option Plan ( where it netted us 1000% after 10 + years which subsidies our children’s educational / health expenses ).
Cheers

I totally agree to minimize the bad and increase the good expenses. This method should be agreed by the couple and educate/inform the children as well. I am really blessed to read this kind of article. This is really beneficial to the reader.

Great Mark, you hit it right! I’m guilty with those previous travels -though we now minimize this learning and recharging trips as “pay off” to our hardwork. Just the same, it must be noted that , necessary and good alternative must always be exp[ored- to save and reduce expenses. More power. Bless you more

Traveling is fine as long as you can afford it. Sometimes splurging from time to time even if you can’t can be uplifting, the key is to be aware of it and try to replace it with better expenses. Please do keep reading Buddy. Take care

I agree! My husband and I are better with keeping the bad expenses at minimum now that we have a baby. We are also now finding ways to increase the good expenses. It’s great to know that what we’re doing right now to increase our “wealth” is validated by this article.

We did the table and listings of our bad expenses and made a substitute either for necessary and good expenses. I am excited to see how our good expenses will turn into additional take home and increase our money right now.

So true Sir Mark.in fact i already started on investing on rentals.We can also enjoy some simple pleasures in life provided we continue on adding to our “cup” regularly so that our hard-earned money will grow and eventually it will work for us and not the other way around. Thanks for the very informative article! GB!

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Praise for Mark and Jhoanna’s Articles

"I agree with you Mark when you said that everyone starts at zero and experience is the best teacher of all. I have met people who consider themselves guru in money matters and gives free advices even if they do not have the experience and knowledge to back it up. When I decided to go into forex, some people advised against it saying its too risky, ill lose money, stocks are better and so forth even if they don't even have the basic background how forex trading really works. Now that I'm into forex I have learned that gaining experience can sometimes be painful since you will most likely learn from your mistakes and you really have to rise from your failure and try again. I still consider myself work in progress in regards of my forex trading however I would prefer it to be this way than to just say forex is risky and you will lose money and pretend that I know what I am talking about.

Anyway, loving and enjoying your articles :) More power!"

-Aileen Esparago

"This is a good article. I used to have 2 columns only when doing budgeting: money in, and money out (ie, expenses). I had always thought expense is just money going out. Now I know, there is such a thing as good expense. This article also interesting in that budgeting is likened to dieting- I don't have to deprive myself of things I want, but I just have to find a more sensible expense to substitue for the bad expense. I am applying this now in my monthly budgeting. More power!"

-Jacqueline Lipardo

"You are absolutely right Mark! I started with nothing a year ago..I capitalize my skill and experience.

Thanks for sharing your business expertise online and for being an inspiration to those who wanted to start their own business.

Id like to join your Zero Capital Business Club."

-Girlie Del Rosario

"Sir Mark,

Last year wass not that good for me. We're flooded by ondoy, my nephew had an accident, my first business failed and my mother died. It was very bad year for me. But i am not losing hope.Its been a while since i've attended your seminar and it's nice to read your article especially now that my friends and i are planning a small business. It is a very nice article and this will help alot. As of now my and my friends are thinking of business ideas. We are planning to put up"

-Jason Baluncio

"Thanks.I will apply everything you said.You will hear from me as soon as I progresses.
More power to you."

-Gilbert Tanyag

"Hi!..
before anything else thank you for forwarding me your message. it was really inspiring :-)) ... i believe with what you just said here that.... when you become an entrepreneur it is results that put food on the table, not efforts. It is results that get you to the next level, not efforts. It is results that make you successful, not efforts....right?.... keep inspiring others ok?...ang belated to your wife ...:-)) god bless you and your biz!"

More Praise Still for Mark and Jhoanna’s Articles

"Reading your article really helped me with my problem. I want to thank you for writing this article."

-Jonas Dimanche

"hi Mark,
this specific article helped me a lot, i mean it really gave a total illumination to me. i am a graduate of batch 2009, currently i am unemployed but i am a part time academic tutor. me and a friend of mine from college entered also tshirt printing business during college, but it was a total flop! but we are planning to re-start again with the help of the lessons gained from past mistakes and from your blog. i pray that this time it will work out!:)"

-Ace

"Sir Mark,

Last year wass not that good for me. We're flooded by ondoy, my nephew had an accident, my first business failed and my mother died. It was very bad year for me. But i am not losing hope.Its been a while since i've attended your seminar and it's nice to read your article especially now that my friends and i are planning a small business. It is a very nice article and this will help alot. As of now my and my friends are thinking of business ideas. We are planning to put up"